


Zelda is the Hero in This One

by LoverlyMadhatter



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, M/M, Magic, Multi, POV Female Character, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-23 14:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14334096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoverlyMadhatter/pseuds/LoverlyMadhatter
Summary: Zelda is Princess of Hyrule, and has grown up with Ganon as her father's ward since they were young. Link is their retainer, and the three of them have become incredibly close friends.As the Solar Eclipse approaches, Zelda feels uneasy about the coming days... but Ganon and Link are there to assuage her fears.





	1. Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> I'm tired and I've decided to post this deliriously without any editing or doing really anything to it. I'll revise it later, but I figure it's better to start getting my stuff out there so y'all can read it than just sitting on it.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you visit my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/LoverlyMadhattr) and my [about.me](https://about.me/loverlymadhatter)! :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda is Princess of Hyrule, and has grown up with Ganon as her father's ward since they were young. Link is their retainer, and the three of them have become incredibly close friends.
> 
> As the Solar Eclipse approaches, Zelda feels uneasy about the coming days... but Ganon and Link are there to assuage her fears.
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/LoverlyMadhattr) and my [about.me](https://about.me/loverlymadhatter)! :)
> 
> [Map of Hyrule](https://twitter.com/LoverlyMadhattr/status/987776101823938560)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm tired and I've decided to post this deliriously without any editing or doing really anything to it. I'll revise it later, but I figure it's better to start getting my stuff out there so y'all can read it than just sitting on it.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you visit my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/LoverlyMadhattr) and my [about.me](https://about.me/loverlymadhatter)! :)

“I just don’t understand!” Zelda throws her arms in the air, hair blowing about her face. “He just disappears into thin air – how has no one seen him?”

The tall man beside her quirks an orange eyebrow. “He’s always been quick, but his disappearances are uncanny.” Ganon’s face has had the same expression all day, and this moment changes nothing.

His eyes are blank and empty, like his mind has been elsewhere. His mouth is curled into a frown, one that hasn’t wiped away since he and Zelda had shared breakfast. They awoke to find Link’s bed empty, and, as Ganon always does, they set out to find him. It would be uncouth to present the Princess and the Hylian Ward without their royal retainer, especially to Ganon’s mother.

“He’s not doing it to hurt you, you know,” Zelda says quietly, walking through the market beside him.

“I know.”

Zelda fiddles with the tassels on her tabard. The gold thread of the embroidered Triforce shines in the sun as she tugs on the fabric, filled with nervous energy. Ganon was never comfortable with his mother’s visits, nor was anyone else in Castle Town. Everyone knew the story: the Gerudo Tribe produces one male heir every hundred years or so, and thousands of years ago one of those heirs happened to be bent on bringing about the end of worlds. He succeeded, until a courageous warrior and a wise princess sealed him away for eternity. When a male heir came around again, he was adopted by the King, sent back to rule only when the King felt he was ready, made a loved member of the Royal Family, but Ganon never could quite shake the fearful stares of the Castle Town citizens.

“There,” Ganon says after they’ve made their way into the town square. From here, Zelda follows Ganon’s finger to find a huge commotion happening in the Eastern part of the town. There’s a cacophony of voices coming toward them, guard spear tips bouncing over the heads of the crowd. They’re weaving relatively unsuccessfully through all of the people, but something far ahead of them seems to continue spooking most of the townsfolk. A few women and men shriek, and then, through their skirts at the entrance to the alley, Link tumbles out from beneath them.

Her body moves before she consciously controls it, her vision tinted red. “Link!” she shouts, her voice as stern and as sharp as she can make it. The entire crowd goes silent, as does the young man front and center. His face fills with red as he looks up at Zelda, awkward smile on his face.

“Hey Zelda,” he replies meekly.

Ganon steps up behind Zelda, arms crossed over his chest. “What’d you do now, troublemaker?”

Link scratches the back of his head. “I got breakfast?”

Zelda purses her lips.

“Ok! I forgot my wallet.”

“So you stole your breakfast?” Zelda asks, tapping her foot impatiently.

“I’m sure it was sizable,” Ganon chimes in. His frown disappears for a moment, replaced by a tiny smirk, and Link’s face grows hot again.

The crowd surges forward toward Link sitting on the ground, and less gracefully, a gaggle of guards breaks through the crowd, followed by a plump woman with a red face. The woman goes straight for Link.

“Madam.” Zelda interrupts her beeline for Link, sweeping in front of her in as grand a gesture as possible. It’s enough to distract her momentarily – enough to save Link’s neck.

“P-Princess Zelda!” the woman exclaims, falling to her knees.

Zelda smiles, stomping down the boiling anger and replacing it with calm, shifting waters. She motions for the woman to stand. “I must apologize for Link’s behavior,” she says with a smile. She fishes in one of her dress’s pockets for a moment, then pulls out a small velvet bag of rupees. “I hope this is enough to cover his meal and more.”

The woman clutches the bag to her chest. “Thank you, Princess.”

“As for you,” she says, turning to Link. His face fills with color. “You are supposed to be my retainer, not the other way around. Why is it that I’m always cleaning up your messes?” Zelda hauls him up by his collar. She’s ready to drag him off by his earrings when there’s a tingle of breath at her ear.

“I think we ought to get going.”

Ganon’s baritone rattles her heart, and she re-centers herself. Her fingers release Link’s crumpled collar, and she whispers an uncomfortable sorry. Link’s teeth glint in the sunlight when he grins, shrugging.

“Whatever, Princess.” He winks, turning on his heel and leading the way out of the market.

“ _Sa’oten_ ,” Ganon mutters.

Zelda covers her mouth with her hand to hide her smile, bowing quickly to her people before being ushered out of the market by her ward and retainer.

**

Her lips are tightly sealed on the walk home. She darts a look at Link every once in a while – who is sheepish – but ultimately keeps her nose up and away.

“I really am sorry,” Link says after a while, jogging to catch up after falling behind.

Zelda crooks an eyebrow.

“My mother will not care whether you are sorry or not,” Ganon rumbles. He claps a hand over Link’s shoulder, pulling him into his side. “But I understand.”

Much to her surprise, he wraps an arm around Zelda, too, pulling them both close to him. His armor is leather, but it’s still hard against Zelda’s face.

Arms wrapped around Zelda and Link, Ganon and the two of them make their way to the castle.

**

The moment the Chief of the Gerudo arrives, there’s a thick tension that hangs in the air – as if the very existence of herself in Hyrule was offending.

She steps through the two-story doors that herald Hyrule Castle, making them seem small in comparison. Her entourage shadows the doorway quickly behind her, women so tall and intimidating that Zelda nearly crumbles at the sight of them.

It had been some time since any Gerudo had visited the Castle on the edge of Lake Hylia. There was a long distance to travel, and relations with the Hylians hadn’t been good since at least as long as Zelda could remember.

But here was the Chief and 20 Gerudo _vai_ , in the flesh. Which there was a lot of.

Zelda feels blood rush into her face as the women approach.

“Mother.” Ganon saves Zelda from cutting through the silence.

“Chief Rova,” she greets, a smile uncomfortably sitting on her face.

“Princess,” rumbles the woman, looking down her nose at Zelda. She turns her gaze to Ganon, but doesn’t speak. Her eyes seem to take in many things at once, face souring quickly. “Ganondorf. Though I wonder, are you? All that Hylian leather makes me think you might not be as Gerudo as I once thought.”

Ganon’s jaw clenches, muscles shifting under his skin.

“Well,” continues the Chief, sounding rather bored with the whole thing. “Where is your King? Would we be invited to the castle, or are we to take residence at the Inns?”

Something in Zelda’s throat clamps around her voice box. “Ah,” she starts, coughs, then starts again. “My father is too ill to join us for the tour of the castle, but he will join us for lunch. We will take you to your rooms first. Is there anything I could take for you?”

The Chief quirks that harsh orange eyebrow, then shakes her head. “No. We are appropriately burdened. Please show us to our quarters.”

Ganon begins to move without hesitation, Link and Zelda startling after him.

“Please, this way,” Zelda tries to recover, but the Chief is unreadable. There’s a sour look on her face, lips turned downward, that same eyebrow quirked. Perhaps it was always like that. She turns around to walk with Ganon, who is particularly reluctant to turn around or slow down in any way.

“So uh, your mom, huh?” Link says, hopefully quietly enough.

“Yes,” grumbles Ganon, turning his gaze to Link. “I suggest you not open your mouth around her.” He continues quickly and unfalteringly in his direction.

Link’s step falls slightly, tail tucked between his legs.

The tour goes as well as Zelda expects it to, which is horribly. Their first stop is the murals outside of the chapel, and the stained glass within, and before Zelda could even open her mouth, she stepped forward with her quirked eyebrow.

“Six sages, the Princess, and her Knight sealing the Beast. I see,” the Chief says, leaning in closer to the mural. “A Zora, a Goron, a Kokiri, a Sheikah, and a Hylian. But that isn’t six, is it?” She leans in closer to the painting. “Ah, there, behind the other Sages and blocked partially out by the calamity.”

Ganon and Link both grab a part of her dress to stop her from stepping forward and opening her mouth. She had been petitioning to get it changed, but Ganon flashed his eyes at her, so she shut her mouth.

She would probably be even angrier to find out that it was her Father who kept denying the petition.

Zelda tries to move her as quickly as she can through the castle, but every step of the way she makes a show of something else. Ganon’s clothes, Zelda’s clothes, the lack of women in the castle as guards,

When it finally ends back at their quarters, Zelda could almost press coal into a diamond with the stress squeezing her body.

“Princess,” the Chief says, turning. “Thank you for the tour.”

“You’re very welcome, Chief Rova.”

She turns to enter her quarters, as many of her guard already have been, then turns back around to face the three of them. “Actually, Ganon, could I speak to you in my quarters?”

Zelda watches his jaw clench again, fist balled at his sides.

“Whatever you would like to say, you can say to me here,” he says. “You’ve said quite enough already.”

It takes everything in Zelda’s power not to gasp. Link’s tight grip on her arm almost tips her over the edge, but she manages to hold it together.

Ganon’s mother sighs, a smile lined with frustration on her face. “Never back down from a fight, son,” she says with a laugh, then makes her way toward him. “Fine. I will tell you here.” The Chief, as tall as she is, is still shorter than her son, if slightly. She brings her hand up to his face, resting her palm gently on his cheek. “I love you, my son.”

Ganon’s whole body seems to have stopped functioning aside from his fist. Zelda watches his hand clench hard, watches him open his hand with blood on his fingernails. Yet he doesn’t speak.

“Ganondorf, my son, my moon and stars. You were a gift from the Sand Goddess herself, a gift to our people… a gift to me. But I see you here and I wonder: am I still your mother? Look at yourself. Are you fit to rule my people?”

Still Ganon doesn’t speak. Zelda feels her heart tear in two, sees Link shaking beside her, thankful that they’re out of focus.

“I love you. Our people love you… but we suffer. The desert is harsh, and the kingdom far, but so too are Mount Lanayru and Death Mountain, yet the Zora and Gorons do not suffer as we do. Ganon…”

She enters her quarters with her second quickly following, clicking the door shut behind her.

**

Zelda shouts, loud, reaching forward for Link’s hand. She’s surrounded in darkness, oppressed by the heavy air around her. Pressing forward blindly, she soon collides with something large and equally as comforting.

“Princess,” rumbles Ganon, gently repositioning her. “I have Link.”

Even in the darkness she can see Link wink and flash her a thumbs up. “Princess.”

For one moment she’s between them, Ganon on her left and Link on her right, arms tangled and pulled tight. In the next, they disappear like the wind through her arms, and she’s alone.

“Ganon?” she shouts. “Link?”

And then she’s outside, the sky dark with the new moon. She stands at the end of the bridge to the castle, watching as it sinks into Lake Hylia wrapped in black and red smoke and magic. Zelda screams, tears streaming down her face, because it’s the only thing she can do.

“Zelda!”

Zelda sucks in a breath and sits up, her skin slick with sweat. She feels her hair stick to her face and back. As the cold air touches her skin, she begins to shiver. Her bedroom is dark around her, aside from the faint light of the torches outside.

Link places a robe over her shoulders, which she pulls tightly around her.

“It’s ok,” he says quietly, pushing a hair off of her forehead. “It was just a dream.”

“But it was the same one,” Zelda begins to sob, pulling her knees up to her chest. “Except you and Ganon were there… but then you were gone.”

“Where the castle sinks into Lake Hylia?” Link softly asks. “Even if that happens, I promise nothing will happen to you. Ganon and I will always be here.”

Zelda shivers, tears still spilling from her eyes. Her heart hasn’t stopped racing, and her face is filled with blood – having nightmares at her age is unbefitting, especially of a princess. But still, Link smiles gently at her.

“Wh-where is Ganon?” she asks.

Link shrugs and points over his shoulder. “You know, ‘keeping watch,’” he says with a smile bright enough to shine in the darkness.

He stays with her a few minutes more, until she’s sure she can fall back asleep. There’s warmth in her heart when the door swings closed and she sees a flash of green and blue eyes. Then she lies down and closes her eyes, watching the Hyrule Castle sink into Lake Hylia over and over again.


	2. Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda's dreams become reality.
> 
> [Map of Hyrule](https://twitter.com/LoverlyMadhattr/status/987776101823938560)

The ceremony is an old religious one, tied deeply to the four races of Hyrule. Yet, when Zelda looks around, she sees many Hylian faces, a sprinkling of Gorons and Zora, and only the Gerudo Chief and her high guard.

Her stomach aches, and she longs to bend over and assuage it, but she’s stuck with her face toward the sun, an enchanted mask over her eyes, as she looks toward the sun. The High Priestess mutters some more prayers to the Goddesses, and then, finally as the moon passes over the sun and turns everything dark, she is able to look away.

Zelda blinks the lights away from her eyes, flitting her eyes around in an attempt to see the effects of the eclipse. There are strange shadows everywhere almost like a kaleidoscope illusion. The trees look strange in the purple light, their green almost black, and their shadows thousands of tiny crescents on the marble.

Turning toward the statue of the Goddess from a dais in the center of the city, Zelda catches the gleam of strange light off of green eyes. Ganon catches her gaze and nudges Link, who tears his gaze away from the direction of the sun. He flashes a smile, then motions toward a shop front – shoes? Or… garden supplies? Either way, Zelda agrees to meet them there with a quirk of her eyebrows.

The Priestess finishes her prayers to the Goddesses as the moon completely clears the sun. There’s a ceremonial exit, but once she clears the dais, she is free. Her clothes are a little awkward, but people are thin here, being ushered into another direction by the knights. There are a few people milling about, but it seems to be other relations of the priestesses, so they pay her no mind.

She rushes forward, her limbs aching from standing in one position for so long. Ganon gives her a rare smile, and Link looks just as shocked to see it as her. Zelda laughs, glad the pressure is relieved for a short amount of time.

**

Zelda wakes up in complete darkness. She’s in her bedroom, though she knows only by smell and feel – it’s pitch black. The lights of the castle from outside seem to be snuffed out, and the stars twinkling isn’t enough without the light of the moon.

She steps out of bed and makes her way out into the hall. The large windows give her enough light that she can make out the general outline of the décor. Though it’s strange she has to do that, since the lanterns in the hallways should be on.

Stomach doing flips, Zelda makes her way to Link’s room and knocks rapidly on the door.

“Link,” she whispers. “Link.”

She hears no motion until the door opens and closes quickly in front of her. Link steps out from behind it, dressed in his green tunic, denoting him her retainer. And, Zelda notes, chainmail and leathers.

“Something’s wrong,” Link says. He’s quiet as a mouse, so quiet that Zelda has to lean in to hear him. “You feel it, right?”

Their eyes meet, and there’s no gleam of mischief in Link’s. She swallows.

“Come on.” Zelda whispers, turning on her heel.

Her visit with Ganon goes much the same way, the same level of seriousness etched in his face.

They take Zelda back to change into leathers and chainmail – just in case – when Zelda starts to plan.

“So what is happening, logically?” She didn’t want to think about what might illogically be happening… her dreams shouldn’t mean anything – they’re just dreams, right?

“This isn’t… your mom’s fault, right?” Link asks, looking toward Ganon.

“Link,” Zelda says cautiously.

“No,” Ganon replies, “I’ve had the same thought. Though, I don’t believe it would be her. She has reason to, but her honor is too great. I believe she is on her way to Gerudo Town. I know her.”

Link raises his eyebrows.

“It could still be her,” Ganon says. “I just don’t think it is.”

Zelda steps in, but she doesn’t get a word off.

The floor beneath them begins to shake, but uncomfortably so, as if the entire island beneath them was vibrating. Windows begin to shatter, mirrors and art falling off the walls.

“Out of the castle,” says Zelda. There’s no hesitation, she just knows they have to go.

The three of them move smoothly, having frequently moved through the halls of the castle together. Outside, as they pass through the castle, Zelda sees a dark fog begin to settle around the castle. It’s dense, like a squid’s ink, and soon the outside vanishes all together.

“Link!” Zelda shouts. “Ganon!”

And they’re both there, she can hear them both beside her as they reach the door. “Zelda.”

Ganon pushes the door open and the blackness begins to cloud the castle like a smoke. It has no substance, no feeling, but it is pitch black. Zelda sees absolutely nothing.

“The castle!” Zelda shouts. She reaches for Ganon and Link and finds them nearby. Her fingers scrabbling, she pulls them close. “We have to run across the bridge! We have to get to the other side!”

Sure enough, the castle rumbles again, the very ground beneath their feet moving. Zelda, gripping them tightly, drags them out of the castle. They run together, never losing contact of one another. There were no obstacles on the Castle Bridge, and their path should be clear.

Link whistles while they run, slicing through the blackness and echoing beneath the viaduct.

When the ground becomes natural and rocky, the trio encounter something they didn’t expect. Or someone.

“Augh you jerks!” she shouts. They can’t see her, but she sounds like an angry old woman and she speaks with a Gerudo accent.

“I knew it!” shouts Link, and he jumps forward to attack the woman.

She dodges him, and again when he springs back and lunges again.

“Miss!” she laughs.

“I’ve walked these trails my whole life,” he explains, voice low. “The only way I’m missing you is because you can see me.”

“Well that’s disappointing.”

The castle continues to rumble loudly, and now there are cracks appearing in the bridge connecting the two land masses.

“Do you have something to do with this?” Zelda shouts.

She doesn’t answer, but she does laugh.

Before she can open her mouth again, she’s cut off by the thundering of the bridge cracking completely, a chunk of stone dropping into Lake Hylia. At a similar moment, Zelda feels the thundering of a horse coming down the road. Link and Ganon already have their arms around her, locking her into a position they had obviously pre-planned.

“What is this?” she shouts, squirming. “How dare you!”

“This is our duty, Zelda” Link replies. He sounds neither triumphant nor pleased. “Epona knows where to go.”

Zelda scrunches up her nose. “You can’t do this to me! We’re better as a team!”

“You think you can just ignore me?” shouts the woman in the darkness over the thundering of land splitting and water crashing. There’s another huge crash, shaking the ground beneath their feet.

 “You are more valuable than either of us,” Ganon says, squeezing her tighter. “Goddess blood, right?”

“You know that’s just a story,” she shouts, but their new ‘friend’ has started chanting in some strange language, like electricity pouring from her mouth. As much as she struggles, her decision is made for her as Epona thunders beside them and another chunk of the bridge splashes into the water. Ganon and Link lift her onto the horse in a move that has been executed countless times before. She hops up onto Epona and presses her knees into her sides, urging her to go as fast as she can through the trail.

Over the sound of the lake swallowing the island, she hears a piercing cry, and watches black lighting streak from the sky and down to her previous location.

“Link!” she shouts. “Ganon!”

But she’s too far away.

Zelda leans close to Epona’s ear, “You know where to go, right girl?”

**

The most difficult thing about the shot isn’t that she’s galloping on a horse at full speed, nor that the strangely dressed person is also galloping on a horse at full speed. Zelda squeezes her eyes shut and shakes her head quickly. No, the most difficult thing about this shot is aiming through her tears.

Epona needs no instruction, making that part easy. Zelda has full concentration on her bowstring pulled taught behind her ear, but her aim is off. Her target, though somewhat strangely dressed and easy to spot, seems to be impossible to hit. They had been waiting at the split of the trail for the Mountain Road and Castle Town. If it had been another day, Zelda would have begun to slow down; instead, she pressed her knees into Epona’s side.

Now they were following her, their black garb glowing with strange blue markings, and their body like a blurred image.

Zelda narrows her eyes, trying to find the thing’s face. She spots a hood, and focuses her eyes on the dark spot beneath it. A deep breath in, and a deep breath out as she releases the bowstring. It flies true, steady and straight toward the dark spot. The moment the arrow reaches them, they seem to glitch out of existence, only for a moment, and where the arrow should have been, it wasn’t. Instead, the arrow seems to phase through them completely, as if they were a ghost.

“What in Goddess’s names?”

She turns around grasping hold of the reigns and throwing her bow over her neck. Hopefully, this thing chasing her hadn’t been riding through this area very often. Zelda grips Epona’s reins and holds herself steady. As soon as they clear the top of the hill, three pathways stretch before her: straight and easiest will take her across the bridge, but there are two that branch off, each taking a different route around the lake. She directs Epona to go left, encouraging her to go faster. They speed down the hill, Zelda’s thighs aching with effort, and Epona manages to turn left, despite their momentum forward.

Zelda whips around and watches her pursuer’s horse run straight onto the bridge, coming to a screeching halt as they try to turn around. It gives Zelda enough time to think of something, enough time to get out of view.

The south side of the lake was more difficult terrain – rocky, lots of trees on the banks, altogether an uncomfortable journey for the uncertain – but with many more places to hide. As soon as they’re out of view, Zelda turns Epona off the trail just past a thicket of trees, where she parks Epona and waits.

Soon enough, the thing in glowing garb comes trotting toward the thicket on the path. They’re patient, checking thoroughly as they move along. Zelda can’t help but feel how human their mannerisms are as they search, but as far as she knew no human could possibly phase through an arrow.

They make their way past the thicket, and before they get a chance to take a look around, Zelda has notched an arrow and loosed it toward their back. This time, her eyes don’t flicker. She watches the arrow pierce their neck, and watches as their body goes rigid, then limp.

Zelda holds her breath. The hooded creature glows brightly for a moment, then explodes into a cloud of black and blue dust sparkling as it falls to the ground and disappears.

“I hope you find your way home.” Zelda says as she leaves the other horse behind her, urging Epona to take off as soon as the creature disappears. Whatever it was, there were going to be more, and she wasn’t going to be here when they showed up.

She makes camp that night beneath the cover of deep woods, tears soaking her hair.

**

They ride, Zelda attempting to follow a map of some sort in the small notebook she was relieved to find tucked in her boot. They’re heading overwhelmingly East, and they’ve never moved South of River Hylia. The only thing that awaits them is a mountainous peninsula.

There wasn’t anything in the mountains, yet Epona keeps on a path that doesn’t seem to have any borders. They finally turn away from the flow of the river, entering a valley. The path completely disappears here, but Epona seems sure-footed and steady, so Zelda tries to relax.

They move deeper into the mountains, to a point where Zelda isn’t sure of their direction. The sun has disappeared behind the tall mountains, and she isn’t sure where they are. She leans forward, wrapping her arms around Epona’s neck.

Eventually Epona stops moving. It’s somewhat abrupt – nothing seems to change about the area, but Zelda feels the air change. The hair on the back of her neck stands up.

“Halt!” A voice echoes seemingly from nowhere, bouncing off the valley walls.

She furrows her brow, Epona standing still. Zelda opens her mouth, then closes it. “I… am?”

Seemingly from nowhere, a slim figure drops onto the ground in front of Zelda and Epona. They are tall, looking easily at Zelda over Epona’s head, and dressed in dark blue bodysuit. Adorned on their front is a white chest piece with a very familiar eye on it, matching the one on their simple white mask.

“Sorry,” says the person, lifting the mask and sitting it on top of their head. “I haven’t done this in a while.”

“You’re a Shiekah,” Zelda says, mouth open and eyes wide.

It’s not a question because there’s no mistaking it: their hair is stark white and pulled into a tight braid at the base of their neck, their eyes glowing red in the partial darkness.

“And you’re Princess Zelda,” says the Sheikah, giving her a wide grin. They step forward, and Zelda grasps Epona’s reins. Epona resists, however, and lets the Sheikah gently put their hands on her face.

“I am Impa,” they say, stepping away from Epona. “I am a member of the Sheikah tribe, and I am pleased to say we have met before – I will admit that it was when you were a very tiny baby, however. We can talk more once you’re comfortable.”

Impa encourages Zelda from her horse, and she collapses into their arms, the exhaustion of the past 40 or so hours dropping on top of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep in mind that my works posted on here are often unpolished and unrevised. I just don't have enough time to revise everything I want to post, because I also have to work! If you'd like to see or request some more finished, polished work, please visit my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/LoverlyMadhattr) and my [about.me](https://about.me/loverlymadhatter)! :)


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